Vegetable lecithins: A review of their compositional diversity, impact on lipid metabolism and potential in cardiometabolic disease prevention.

Vegetable lecithins, widely used in the food industry as emulsifiers, are a mixture of naturally occurring lipids containing more than 50% of phospholipids (PL). PL exert numerous important physiological effects. Their amphiphilic nature notably enables them to stabilise endogenous lipid droplets, conferring them an important role in lipoprotein transport, functionality and metabolism. In addition, beneficial effects of dietary lecithin on metabolic disorders have been reported since the 1990s. This review attempts to summarize the effects of various vegetable lecithins on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, as well as their potential application in the treatment of dyslipidemia associated with metabolic disorders. Despite controversial data concerning the impact of vegetable lecithins on lipid digestion and intestinal absorption, the beneficial effect of lecithin supplementation on plasma and hepatic lipoprotein and cholesterol levels is unequivocal. This is especially true in hyperlipidemic patients. Furthermore, the immense compositional diversity of vegetable lecithins endows them with a vast range of biochemical and biological properties, which remain to be explored in detail. Data on the effects of vegetable lecithins alternative to soybean, both as supplements and as ingredients in different foods, is undoubtedly lacking. Given the exponential demand for vegetable products alternative to those of animal origin, it is of primordial importance that future research is undertaken in order to elucidate the mechanisms by which individual fatty acids and PL from various vegetable lecithins modulate lipid metabolism. The extent to which they may influence parameters associated with metabolic disorders, such as intestinal integrity, low-grade inflammation and gut microbiota must also be assessed.